Shoe softener or conditioner



March 3, 1942.

A. YOUNG SHOE SOFTENER OR CONDITIONER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 21, 1939 March 3, 1942. A, Y N 2,275,334

SHOE SOF'IENER OR CONDITIONER Fi led Oct. 21, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 3, 1942 SHOE SOFTENER R CONDITIONER Alfred Young, Hanover, Pa., assignor to The Hanover Shoe, Inc., Hanover, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application October 21, 1939, Serial No. 300,637

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in shoe softeners or conditioners.

The invention includes a steaming chamber with racks therein to support several shoes and including means for supplying steam or vapor and discharging it upwardly beneath and on the lower side of the upper, with the idea of preventing its direct contact so far as possible with the finished surface of the upper, and to that end the upper is adapted to be attached at the toe and heel to a last, and spread out as far as possible at its side.

Means are included in this invention for breaking up the steam or vapor as it rises, and which has the added function of catching any tacks or nails which might drop from the last.

Another feature includes a removable and adjustable wind-shield to prevent air from blowing in beneath the supports for the shoes.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a View in perspective;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 33 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a similar sectional View on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section on line 5--5 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional detail on line 66 of Fig. 7, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. '7 is an enlarged fragmentary section on line 7-1 of Fig. 7, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the removable bafile.

The numerals I, 2 and 3 represent the ends, back and top of the structure, the front being preferably open for access to the inside. Rods 4, of which there are preferably three in number, extend from end to end of the device, where they are secured in the end thereof, and these afford support for the shoe S as indicated in Fig 5. A steam-box 5 is formed in the bottom to receive the condensation from the steam or vapor, and the top 3 slopes to carry the steam or vapor condensing thereon to the rear and thence along the surface of the back 2, and finally into the steam-box 5 below, and out through a drainpipe I.

A shelf 6 inclines from the front inwardly and any condensation reaching its surface is also conducted to the steam-box 5, as shown in Fig. 5.

the steam-box 5, and this pipe has steam outlets 9 as viewed in Figs. 6 and 7 for discharging the steam or vapor downwardly in both directions to insure its filling the steam-box 5 and become as evenly distributed as possible as it emerges from the top of the tank.

A removable screen In covers the tank and the holes ll therethrough help further to divide and disseminate the vapors from the pipe 8. This removable screen has the further function of catching any nails or tacks dropping from the shoes above.

A removable baifle l3 having a hooked upper edge [4 is adapted to be hooked over one of the rods 4 to prevent drafts of cold air from entering the lower part of the chamber.

In the process of softening and conditioning the shoe uppers, the upper is customarily attached by one or two tacks (not shown) at the heel of the last, and then they are placed in the softener as viewed in Figs. 3 and 5. The sides are spread outwardly to their fullest extent as indicated in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 3, in order to receive the full effect of the steam or vapor discharging from below on the under side of the upper, and to the exclusion, so far as possible, of the moisture contacting and settling upon the polished surface of the upper.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that a very simple and practical machine is provided for handling these shoes and steaming the under side of the uppers until they are suitably softened and conditioned.

More or less re-arrangement of the parts described are in mind, such as might readily come in the scope of the invention.

I claim: The combination of an outer casing forming an open chamber, a steam-box at the lower portion of the chamber formed by the casing, a steam or vapor pipe extending into the steambox and discharging downwardly therefrom, a pipe extending from said steam-box for draining condensation, a removable screen covering the top of the steam-box which has the double function of breaking up and distributing the steam or vapor rising from the inlet, and of catching nails or tacks which may drop from the work being treated, rods extending throughout the length of the chamber for the support of the shoes being softened or conditioned at a point above the steam-box, a sloping shelf, and a bafile adapted to be removably supported on one of the rods with its lower edge resting on the sloping Steam or vapor is supplied through a pipe 8 5 shelf.

extending lengthwise throughout the bottom of ALFRED YOUNG- 

